It was one of the defining icons of the 1970s and every child wanted one.

Now original designs for the Raleigh Chopper have come to light 45 years after bicycle was first made.

The scribbled sketches were just basic outlines but clearly show the bike's most famous features - large U-shaped handlebars, chunky rear wheel and long leather seat.

Icon of the 1970s: The original designs for the Raleigh Chopper have come to light 45 years after bicycle was first made. The scribbled sketches were just basic outlines but they clearly show its most famous features - large U-shaped handlebars and rear wheel and long leather seats

THE RALEIGH CHOPPER

The chopper was based on dragster cars and bikes of the 1960s and was a signifier of a child's coolness in the 1970s.

Ogle Design produced the concept art for Raleigh's design department headed by Alan Oakley including details such as the padded leather seat and distinctive wheels.

The first Chopper went into production in 1969 and became a cultural icon of the 1970s.

The first version of the bike featured a gear hub selected using a frame-mounted lever. It had an unusually-shaped frame, high back seat and ape hanger Handlebars as well as differently sized wheels which were 16inches (41cm) at the front and 20inches (51cm) at the back. The design cost £32 for the most basic version at the time.

The Mk2 was produced from 1972 until the end of production and had a seat that was moved forward to prevent the bike tipping up as well as other tweaks.

Around one and a half million bikes were sold before the BMX craze of the 1980s took over.

This was despite the bicycle being unstable, slow, heavy and trickier to ride than conventional bikes.

A lighter Mk3 Chopper was launched in 2004 made of aluminium with various safety features.

They were drawn by inventor Tom Karen and evolved into formal designs for Raleigh, which produced the first Mark I Choppers in 1969.

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The bikes, which emulated dragsters, soon became the must-have toy for children across Britain and more than 1.5million of them were made until production ceased in 1979.

Mr Karen, 87 has kept the two pages of original drawings, which he took with him when he retired from Ogle Design, the consultancy firm used by Raleigh, in 1999.

Since then
his sketch books have been left gathering dust in the garage of his home
in Cambridge, but the grandfather recently rediscovered them

‘The
sketch books were just for me to do some rough doodles for me to pass
on my ideas to the designers to work on and show to the client,’ he
said.

‘I
left Ogle in 1999 and took these books with me. I have had them in my
garage ever since. They were with a pile of things that I just saved.’

He
was managing director of the company between 1962 and 1999, and in 1968
his company was approached by British firm Raleigh bicycles help them
come up with a design to rival one of the leading bikes on the market
made by Schwinn.

The chopper bikes emulated dragster bikes, soon became the must-have toy for children across Britain and more than 1.5million of them were made until production ceased in 1979

Creative: The sketches (pictured) were drawn by inventor Tom Karen and evolved into formal designs for Raleigh, which produced the first Mark I Choppers in 1969

They had tried to compete against the cycle with their Rodeo model, but were unsuccessful.

Mr
Karen took inspiration from the dragster cars which have two large
wheels at the back and sketched a picture in a matter of minutes that
went on to became the Chopper.

However, Raleigh's
head of design. Alan Oakley claimed to have drawn the very first design
for the Chopper on the back of an envelope in 1967, while he flew back
from the U.S from a trip designed to get to grips with youth culture,
The Telegraph reported.

He
saw teenagers in California customising push bikes to look like
dragster motorcycles used by the Hell's Angels by adopting 'ape hanger'
handlebars and other features.

Mr Karen, 87, (pictured in his study) has kept the two pages of original drawings, which he took with him when he retired from Ogle Design, the consultancy firm used by Raleigh, in 1999

As well as the famous features of the
bike, Mr Karen said he had the idea to put in gears and springs under the seat.
Certain parts were prototyped and eventually the designs were passed to
Raleigh.

Mr Karen said: ‘In the 1960s there was a bike made by a company called Schwinn.

Mr Karen (pictured) took inspiration from the dragster cars and sketched a picture in a matter of minutes that went on to became the Chopper

‘It was very sturdy and was great for kids because they could just throw it down on the pavement and then pick it up again and ride away.

‘Raleigh
decided to make a bike to rival the Schwinn and designed something
rather like it, which they called the Rodeo. But unfortunately it
bombed.’

He
explained that Raleigh wanted to reach the same market but to have a
‘different flavour, so I decided there and then that it must have a big
wheel at the back and a small one at the front.’

The
reason for that was because dragster cars had big wheels at the back
where the power was, and I wanted it to have that feel. I made a quick
sketch within a few minutes in my sketch book.’

The chopper
bike had similar handlebars to the Schwinn. ‘It had a straight frame, a
gear shift that kids loved to use to change speed, and the rear wheel
had some pretend disk brakes,’ Mr Karen said.

‘There was a concern that the saddle was too similar to the Schwinn so we redesigned it and put springs underneath it.

‘We
then delivered the final designs to Raleigh and it became a
considerable success and made a lot of money for them. It was quite
iconic and still is today.’

Raleigh
made two versions of the bike - the Mark I from 1969 to 1972 and then
the Mark II from 1972 to 1979. They also produced a number of limited
edition bikes.

Mr Karen was approached by British firm Raleigh bicycles to help them come up with a design to rival one of the leading bikes on the market made by Schwinn (pictured at a flea market in Los Angeles)

Mr Karen, riding on his Chopper bike (pictured) said: 'We delivered the final designs to Raleigh and it became a considerable success and made a lot of money for them. It was quite iconic and still is today'